Lakmé Fashion Week : Pastoral parade

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Aneeth Arora of Pero describes the Summer/Resort collection for Lakmé Fashion Week ’19 as “a product that is bigger than the sum of its parts.” Despite the dichotomy between traditional textiles and Pero’s design sensibilities, From Kullu with Love consists of constructed looks that are holistic and mark the first-time collaboration between the label, the Australian-based Woolmark Company and Kullu wool weavers’ cooperative Bhuttico.

Infused with elements of the traditional Manali Pattu (shawls), the collection made its runway debut on Day 3 of Lakmé  Fashion Week that was dedicated to sustainable fashion. “Pero’s idea of sustainability is: working with the same set of craftspeople and challenging our abilities and theirs to create  something new with the same skill set. We don’t want our craftsmen to feel that they are working with a fashion brand where trends change every six months and associations are a one-time situation,”  begins Aneeth.  

Around the blend

One of the only Indian brands that has worked with Merino Wool for the last 10 years, prior to their tie-up with Woolmark, the highlight of Pero’s collection is their versatile use of the fabric. Creating textiles of varying thickness and blends,  to using woollen yarn for hand and machine embroidery, wool finds myriad applications in From Kullu with Love. “From the thinnest to the thickest form we have used Merino Wool for weaving and embellishment. Perhaps the only challenge that the material poses is that it shrinks.” 

A brief outline

Working on their design story a year in advance, the collection, which is the brand’s Autumn/Winter ’19 line, includes a palette of indigo, electric blue, khaki and off-white. “We came across electric blue when we were exploring pattus and decided to make it a bigger colour than just an accent hue  in our clothing,” reveals the NID graduate.

Drawing further inspiration from Manali’s traditional apparel, look out for geometric patterns and motifs on a range of flowy dresses, structured jackets, tops, bottoms and dungarees. Employing the Kullu border for the first time, Pero has also incorporated the traditional craft design in the form of trims and ties. 

Grammatically correct

Catering to an overseas audience, Aneeth believes that there is a very thin line between transforming ethnic clothing into something with global sensibilities.  “I feel that when we look at crafts in  India we perceive it in a certain context. When we look at an Angarkha we think of it as a traditional silhouette, but abroad the same Angarkha is worn as a soft  over jacket.”